16th January 2007, 9:41 PM
As I said, she does nothing... the only possible defence for what they did to Zelda is saying "Midna is the female character that matters this time, not Zelda", and while that was obviously their intentions, as I said that's just not good enough. Zelda is the main female character of the series, not Midna. While in the first three games her only role was a princess you had to rescue, in the ones since either she has not shown up (beyond possible reference in introduction) the or she has had a more substantive role in the game, and that is a good thing. It's really too bad that they went backwards on it... the idea that major female characters are only good for getting captured and their male companion needs to rescue them is one that works in games with simple, minimal plots (where the plot obviously isn't the point of the game), but not as the central plot device for a modern major title like this one.
Of course, I can argue against that case too, by saying "But the plot ISN'T the point, gameplay is... the plot is just an excuse to go and do stuff"... and that really is often true in Zelda games. But isn't just rescuing Hyrule from evil enough?
And besides... Zelda has virtually no role in the game. You see her like three times in the game. Compare that to WW, OoT, maybe even LttP (compared to the total volume of plot in the game) and it just doesn't hold up. Zelda/Shiek and Zelda/Tetra were real roles that moved forward Zelda's role in the series. This game goes in the exact opposite direction.
Of course, "Save the world from the evil that is about to destroy it" is the most cliche plot ever, and it is appreciated when console RPGs try something different for a change (maybe just saving the region from evil, like PC RPGs are more likely to do?), but that one at least works... I mean, without conflict where would RPGs be?
... what? They'd be graphic adventure games? Oh right... but even those sometimes do "Save the world from evil" plotlines... :)
Of course, I can argue against that case too, by saying "But the plot ISN'T the point, gameplay is... the plot is just an excuse to go and do stuff"... and that really is often true in Zelda games. But isn't just rescuing Hyrule from evil enough?
And besides... Zelda has virtually no role in the game. You see her like three times in the game. Compare that to WW, OoT, maybe even LttP (compared to the total volume of plot in the game) and it just doesn't hold up. Zelda/Shiek and Zelda/Tetra were real roles that moved forward Zelda's role in the series. This game goes in the exact opposite direction.
Of course, "Save the world from the evil that is about to destroy it" is the most cliche plot ever, and it is appreciated when console RPGs try something different for a change (maybe just saving the region from evil, like PC RPGs are more likely to do?), but that one at least works... I mean, without conflict where would RPGs be?
... what? They'd be graphic adventure games? Oh right... but even those sometimes do "Save the world from evil" plotlines... :)